Delivery of automated notifications by an industrial asset

ABSTRACT

An automated industrial notification platform creates a link between a given industrial asset and one or more people or support entities qualified to provide support for the asset. An industrial device or machine stores electronic expert tag information that records and catalogues one or more support people or entities to be notified in response to detection of various types of performance or maintenance issues. The tag can include the experts&#39; identities, contact information, roles relative to the industrial asset, event priorities, and other relevant information. Since the tag is stored in a memory location of the industrial asset, the tag travels with the asset so that experts are globally associated with the asset regardless of the asset&#39;s location. Notification components integrated with the industrial asset detect conditions that may require expert assistance, and send an automated notification to one or more experts identified by the tag information.

BACKGROUND

The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to industrialautomation systems, and, more particularly, to an automated notificationsystem that supports creation of an association between an industrialasset and a set of qualified support people capable of providing servicefor the asset.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basicunderstanding of some aspects described herein. This summary is not anextensive overview nor is intended to identify key/critical elements orto delineate the scope of the various aspects described herein. Its solepurpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude tothe more detailed description that is presented later.

In one or more embodiments, an industrial device is provided, comprisingan event identification component configured to detect a condition ofthe industrial device for which a notification is to be generated; anotification component configured to determine at least one recipientfor the notification based on expert tag information stored on thememory, and to generate notification information based on the condition;and a communication component configured to initiate a sending of thenotification information to the at least one recipient via an externalnetwork.

Also, one or more embodiments provide a method for generating automatednotifications, comprising detecting, by a system comprising at least oneprocessor, occurrence of an event associated with an industrial device;determining, by the system, at least one recipient to be notified of theevent based on expert tag information stored on the industrial device;generating, by the system, notification information based on the event;and sending, by the system, the notification information to the at leastone recipient via an external network.

Also, according to one or more embodiments, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium is provided having stored thereon instructionsthat, in response to execution, cause a system to perform operations,the operations comprising, determining that an event associated with anindustrial device has occurred for which a notification is to begenerated; referencing expert tag information stored on the industrialdevice based on the event; selecting one or more recipients for thenotification based on the referencing; generating the notification basedon the event and device information included in the expert taginformation; and initiating a sending of the notification to the one ormore recipients.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certainillustrative aspects are described herein in connection with thefollowing description and the annexed drawings. These aspects areindicative of various ways which can be practiced, all of which areintended to be covered herein. Other advantages and novel features maybecome apparent from the following detailed description when consideredin conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example industrial control environment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example industrial automatednotification system.

FIG. 3 is block diagram of an industrial asset that includes anintegrated automated notification system.

FIG. 4 is an example expert tag.

FIG. 5 is an example expert tag in which expert tag information isorganized into separate information tables.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the data collected by a notificationcomponent in connection with generating a notification in response toreceiving event information from an event identification component.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating delivery of notifications to selectedrecipients.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of an example control cabinet for a custom-buildindustrial machine in which an industrial controller managesnotifications for the machine as a whole.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a control cabinet deployed within aplant environment and connected to a plant network, and which is capableof sending automated notifications to one or more recipients.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example embodiment in whichnotification tag information and a notification component are maintainedon a cloud platform as part of a cloud-based notification system.

FIG. 11A is a diagram illustrating collection of data by a cloud-basednotification system in connection with location-based notifications.

FIG. 11B is a diagram illustrating delivery of a location-basednotification by a cloud-based notification system.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example embodiment of anotification system that incorporates video presentations.

FIG. 13 is an example dashboard that includes a video window forstreaming video information for a selected work area.

FIG. 14A is a diagram illustrating delivery of notifications to tworecipients by a cloud-based notification system that supports videoconferencing between a remote expert and a local plant employee.

FIG. 14B is a diagram illustrating video conferencing between a remoteexpert and a local plant employee using a cloud-based notificationsystem.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of an example methodology for generating anddelivering automated notifications of industrial events by an industrialdevice.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of an example methodology for generating anddelivering automated notifications of industrial events by a cloud-basednotification system.

FIG. 17 is an example computing environment.

FIG. 18 is an example networking environment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject disclosure is now described with reference to the drawings,wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elementsthroughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the subjectdisclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In otherinstances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagramform in order to facilitate a description thereof.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “system,”“platform,” “layer,” “controller,” “terminal,” “station,” “node,”“interface” are intended to refer to a computer-related entity or anentity related to, or that is part of, an operational apparatus with oneor more specific functionalities, wherein such entities can be eitherhardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or softwarein execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited tobeing, a process running on a processor, a processor, a hard disk drive,multiple storage drives (of optical or magnetic storage medium)including affixed (e.g., screwed or bolted) or removable affixedsolid-state storage drives; an object; an executable; a thread ofexecution; a computer-executable program, and/or a computer. By way ofillustration, both an application running on a server and the server canbe a component. One or more components can reside within a processand/or thread of execution, and a component can be localized on onecomputer and/or distributed between two or more computers. Also,components as described herein can execute from various computerreadable storage media having various data structures stored thereon.The components may communicate via local and/or remote processes such asin accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., datafrom one component interacting with another component in a local system,distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet withother systems via the signal). As another example, a component can be anapparatus with specific functionality provided by mechanical partsoperated by electric or electronic circuitry which is operated by asoftware or a firmware application executed by a processor, wherein theprocessor can be internal or external to the apparatus and executes atleast a part of the software or firmware application. As yet anotherexample, a component can be an apparatus that provides specificfunctionality through electronic components without mechanical parts,the electronic components can include a processor therein to executesoftware or firmware that provides at least in part the functionality ofthe electronic components. As further yet another example, interface(s)can include input/output (I/O) components as well as associatedprocessor, application, or Application Programming Interface (API)components. While the foregoing examples are directed to aspects of acomponent, the exemplified aspects or features also apply to a system,platform, interface, layer, controller, terminal, and the like.

As used herein, the terms “to infer” and “inference” refer generally tothe process of reasoning about or inferring states of the system,environment, and/or user from a set of observations as captured viaevents and/or data. Inference can be employed to identify a specificcontext or action, or can generate a probability distribution overstates, for example. The inference can be probabilistic—that is, thecomputation of a probability distribution over states of interest basedon a consideration of data and events. Inference can also refer totechniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set ofevents and/or data. Such inference results in the construction of newevents or actions from a set of observed events and/or stored eventdata, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporalproximity, and whether the events and data come from one or severalevent and data sources.

In addition, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom the context, the phrase “X employs A or B” is intended to mean anyof the natural inclusive permutations. That is, the phrase “X employs Aor B” is satisfied by any of the following instances: X employs A; Xemploys B; or X employs both A and B. In addition, the articles “a” and“an” as used in this application and the appended claims shouldgenerally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwiseor clear from the context to be directed to a singular form.

Furthermore, the term “set” as employed herein excludes the empty set;e.g., the set with no elements therein. Thus, a “set” in the subjectdisclosure includes one or more elements or entities. As anillustration, a set of controllers includes one or more controllers; aset of data resources includes one or more data resources; etc.Likewise, the term “group” as utilized herein refers to a collection ofone or more entities; e.g., a group of nodes refers to one or morenodes.

Various aspects or features will be presented in terms of systems thatmay include a number of devices, components, modules, and the like. Itis to be understood and appreciated that the various systems may includeadditional devices, components, modules, etc. and/or may not include allof the devices, components, modules etc. discussed in connection withthe figures. A combination of these approaches also can be used.

Modern industrial enterprises are reliant on a large number ofindustrial assets that are crucial to the productive and financial goalsof the enterprise. These assets include, for example, industrialmachines that carry out manufacturing processes, the industrialcontrollers and associated I/O devices that control those machines, anyperipheral systems or devices that participate in the machine control orquality verification processes (e.g., vision systems, quality checksystems, industrial safety systems, motor drives, etc.), and other suchassets.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example industrial control environment. Inthis example, a number of industrial machines 112 are deployedthroughout the plant to carry out one or more industrial processesrelating to product manufacture, machining, motion control, batchprocessing, material handling, or other such industrial functions. Theindustrial machines 112 are controlled by respective industrialcontrollers 118, which interact with a number of I/O devices 108associated with the machines. The industrial controllers 118 typicallyexecute respective control programs to facilitate monitoring and controlof their respective machines via the I/O devices 108. The controlprograms executed by industrial controllers 118 can comprise anyconceivable type of code used to process input signals read from the I/Odevices 108 and to control output signals generated by the industrialcontrollers, including but not limited to ladder logic, sequentialfunction charts, function block diagrams, or structured text.

I/O devices 108 may include both input devices that provide datarelating to the controlled machines to the industrial controllers 118,and output devices that respond to control signals generated by theindustrial controllers 118 to control aspects of the industrial systems.Example input devices can include telemetry devices (e.g., temperaturesensors, flow meters, level sensors, pressure sensors, etc.), manualoperator control devices (e.g., push buttons, selector switches, etc.),safety monitoring devices (e.g., safety mats, safety pull cords, lightcurtains, etc.), and other such devices. Output devices may includemotor drives, pneumatic actuators, signaling devices, robot controlinputs, valves, and the like.

Industrial controllers 118 may communicatively interface with I/Odevices 108 over hardwired or networked connections. For example,industrial controllers 118 can be equipped with native hardwired inputsand outputs that communicate with the I/O devices 108 to effect controlof the machines 112. The native controller I/O can include digital I/Othat transmits and receives discrete voltage signals to and from thefield devices, or analog I/O that transmits and receives analog voltageor current signals to and from the devices. The controller I/O cancommunicate with a controller's processor over a backplane such that thedigital and analog signals can be read into and controlled by thecontrol programs. Industrial controllers 118 can also communicate withI/O devices 108 over a network using, for example, a communicationmodule or an integrated networking port. Exemplary networks can includethe Internet, intranets, Ethernet, DeviceNet, ControlNet, Data Highwayand Data Highway Plus (DH/DH+), Remote I/O, Fieldbus, Modbus, Profibus,wireless networks, serial protocols, and the like. Some controllers mayalso support hardwired point-to-point communication (e.g. HighwayAddressable Remote Transducer, or HART, protocol) that allows thecontrollers to pass digital information serial over a hardwired link.The industrial controllers 118 can also store persisted data values thatcan be referenced by the control program and used for control decisions,including but not limited to measured or calculated values representingoperational states of a controlled machine or process (e.g., tanklevels, positions, alarms, etc.) or captured time series data that iscollected during operation of the automation system (e.g., statusinformation for multiple points in time, diagnostic occurrences, etc.).

Other industrial assets can include, for example, one or morehuman-machine interfaces 114 that allow plant personnel to viewtelemetry and status data associated with the industrial machines 112,and to control some aspects of system operation. HMIs 114 maycommunicate with one or more of the industrial controllers 118 over awired or wireless plant network 116 or via a direct communication cable,and exchange data with the industrial controllers to facilitatevisualization of information relating to the controlled industrialsystems on one or more pre-developed operator interface screens. HMIs114 can also be configured to allow operators to submit data tospecified data tags or memory addresses of the industrial controllers118, thereby providing a means for operators to issue commands to thecontrolled systems (e.g., cycle start commands, device actuationcommands, etc.), to modify setpoint values, etc. HMIs 114 can generateone or more display screens through which the operator interacts withthe industrial controllers 118, and thereby with the controlledprocesses and/or systems. Example display screens can visualize presentstates of industrial systems or their associated devices using graphicalrepresentations of the processes that display metered or calculatedvalues, employ color or position animations based on state, render alarmnotifications, or employ other such techniques for presenting relevantdata to the operator. Data presented in this manner is read fromindustrial controllers 118 by HMIs 114 and presented on one or more ofthe display screens according to display formats chosen by the HMIdeveloper.

Other industrial assets may not be directly involved in the control ofindustrial machines 112, but may perform related peripheral functions.For example, one or more data historians 110 may reside on the plantnetwork 116, and serve to aggregate and store operational and/orproduction information collected from the industrial controllers 118 orother data sources. This stored data can be retrieved and viewed byplant personnel, or leveraged by reporting applications to generateproduction reports.

For a given industrial machine, device, or collection of industrialassets within an industrial enterprise, there is often a limited set ofpeople with special expertise in operating or maintaining those assets.This is especially true of custom-built machines, such as those built byan original equipment manufacturer (OEM) according to specificationsprovided by an end user. Consequently, when these assets experience afault condition, identifying the most suitable people to respond to thefault condition can be a difficult task. Moreover, if an expert islocated off-premise (as is often the case with OEMs), the end user mayexperience difficulty locating and contacting the most suitable peoplefor addressing a machine issue. Also, if the fault is discovered andreported by a person with little or no understanding of the asset'soperation, accurately conveying the information required by the expertto perform an initial diagnosis of the problem presents anotherchallenge.

Another complication arises if a machine or other industrial assetchanges location within the plant. For example, a particular industrialasset may initially be located in a first production area, wheretroubleshooting and maintenance of the asset is performed by maintenancepersonnel associated with that production area. If the asset isrelocated to a different production area, maintenance personnel assignedto that work area may not have the same level of knowledge and expertisewith regard to maintenance of the asset. Although the original team ofmaintenance personnel may still be available within the plant to assistwith asset performance issues, the new maintenance personnel may nothave immediate knowledge of which maintenance personnel were originallyresponsible for the asset. A similar problem arises if the industrialasset changes ownership, which involves not only relocating the assetbut also placing the asset under the supervision of new personnel withno previous experience in the operation and maintenance of the machine.

To address these and other issues, one or more embodiments of thepresent disclosure provide an automated industrial notification platformthat creates a permanent link between a given industrial asset and oneor more people or entities capable of providing service for the asset.To this end, an industrial asset or machine include a means forrecording an association between the asset and one or more relevantpeople or entities who have sufficient understanding of the machine toprovide service or advice. This association can be created, for example,by creating and maintaining a digital tag that resides on the industrialasset. The tag can include the experts' identities, contact information,roles relative to the industrial asset or machine (e.g., OEM,maintenance person, system integrator, operator, etc.) and otherrelevant information. Since the tag is stored in a memory locationassociated with the asset, the tag travels with the industrial asset sothat the experts are globally associated with the machine regardless ofthe location of the asset. The tags allow an industrial machine ordevice to be associated with users or companies across differententerprises, including the machine builder (e.g., the OEM), localmaintenance people or engineers at the customer site, system integratorsinvolved with the installation and integration of the machine into thecustomer's larger industrial system, etc.

The digital tag works in conjunction with automated diagnostic andnotification components integrated into the industrial machine ordevice. These components automatically detect conditions that mayrequire expert assistance, such as a downtime condition, an operationalinefficiency, an alarm condition, or other such conditions. In responseto detection of a condition requiring service or attention, the asset'sautomated notification components access the tagged information anddetermine one or more suitable experts or expert entities based on thetype of the detected issue. In some embodiments, the system may consideradditional factors in connection with determining the suitable experts,including but not limited to the time of the detected condition, thecurrent location of the industrial machine or device, or other suchconsiderations. The notification components then send one or morenotifications to a personal device associated with the selected expertsbased on contact information recorded on the digital tag. Thenotification can include relevant information about the issue, includingthe current location of the asset, the specifics for the detected issue,or other such information.

In some embodiments, rather than maintaining the expert information onthe industrial asset itself, the expert information for the asset andassociated notification components can be maintained on a separateserver device or on a cloud platform. In such embodiments, in responseto detection of a service issue, the industrial asset can send a messageto the server or cloud-based notification system identifying the assetand the nature of the service issue. The notification system on theserver or cloud platform can then access the expert information for theidentified asset and determine the appropriate experts based on thenature of the issue and other relevant information (e.g., the time ofday, the current location of the machine and/or the respective candidateexperts, etc.).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example industrial automatednotification system 202 according to one or more embodiments of thisdisclosure. Aspects of the systems, apparatuses, or processes explainedin this disclosure can constitute machine-executable components embodiedwithin machine(s), e.g., embodied in one or more computer-readablemediums (or media) associated with one or more machines. Suchcomponents, when executed by one or more machines, e.g., computer(s),computing device(s), automation device(s), virtual machine(s), etc., cancause the machine(s) to perform the operations described.

Industrial automated notification system 202 can include an interfacecomponent 204, an event identification component 206, a notificationcomponent 208, a tag update component 210, a location component 214, acommunication component 216, one or more processors 218, and memory 220.In various embodiments, one or more of the interface component 204,event identification component 206, notification component 208, tagupdate component 210, location component 214, communication component216, the one or more processors 218, and memory 220 can be electricallyand/or communicatively coupled to one another to perform one or more ofthe functions of the industrial automated notification system 202. Insome embodiments, components 204, 206, 208, 210, 214, and 216 cancomprise software instructions stored on memory 220 and executed byprocessor(s) 218. Industrial automated notification system 202 may alsointeract with other hardware and/or software components not depicted inFIG. 2. For example, processor(s) 218 may interact with one or moreexternal user interface devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a displaymonitor, a touchscreen, or other such interface devices.

In various embodiments, the components of industrial automatednotification system 202 can be integrated components of an industrialmachine, device, or other asset. For example, in some embodiments,industrial automated notification system 202 can be implemented on anindustrial controller, a motor drive (e.g., a variable frequency driveor other type of motor drive), a meter or other telemetry device, an HMIterminal, a vision system, a barcode stamper or reader, a computingcomponent of an industrial machine, or other such industrial asset.Alternatively, some or all of the components of industrial automatednotification system 202 can reside separately from the industrialasset(s) for which service notifications are to be delivered. In suchembodiments, the automated notification system may reside and execute ona cloud-platform, on a web server, on a local server, or other suchplatform.

Interface component 204 can be configured to receive user input and torender output to the user in any suitable format (e.g., visual, audio,tactile, etc.). User input can be, for example, expert registrationinformation that identifies an expert to be associated with theindustrial asset, as well as other relevant information about the expertand/or conditions under which the expert is to be notified. The expertregistration information can include, for example, contact informationfor the expert, a type of issue for which the expert is to be notified,a time during which the expert may be notified, a company with which theexpert is affiliated, or other such information.

Event identification component 206 can be configured to monitor for andidentify conditions of the industrial asset for which expert assistancemay be warranted. For example, the event identification component 206may be configured to monitor statuses of the industrial asset—e.g.,alarm conditions, performance data generated by the asset duringoperation, etc.—and identify when one or more of the monitored statusessatisfies a condition indicative of a performance issue for which anotification is to be generated. These detected notification conditionscan include, but are not limited to, alarm statuses indicating adowntime condition or other type of fault with the industrial asset, adeviation of a key performance indicator from a defined acceptablerange, or other such conditions.

Notification component 208 can be configured to generate notificationinformation directed to one or more experts or expert entities inresponse to detection of a notification event (by event identificationcomponent 206). The recipient(s) and content of the notificationinformation can be based on the type of issue identified by the eventidentification component 206, a scheduled availability of the candidateexperts, a location of the candidate experts relative to the industrialasset, a time of day, or other contextual information. The notificationcomponent 208 can determine one or more recipients for the notificationbased on expert information stored on a digital tag or other type ofinformation storage object. Once the notification information has beengenerated and suitable recipients identified, the notification component208 can initiate sending the notification information to client devicesassociated with the selected recipients.

Tag update component 210 can be configured to store, maintain, andupdate expert information in a memory location associated with theindustrial asset, or in a centralized storage location such ascloud-based storage or server memory. Location component 214 can beconfigured to identify a location of the industrial asset, which can beleveraged by the notification system to determine one or more suitableexperts for a given issue based in part on the location of the asset(e.g., a geographical location, a plant in which the asset resides, awork area within the plant, etc.). The communication component 216 canbe configured to wirelessly communicate with one or more externalnetworks and/or devices in connection with delivering notifications andservice requests to expert personnel. For example, in one or moreembodiments, the communication component 216 can be configured toexchange information with a communication infrastructure via an externalnetwork such as the Internet or a telephone network, in order to sendnotification information to a client device or account associated with auser (e.g., a personal phone, an email account, a wearable computer,etc.). In other embodiments, communication component 216 can beconfigured to communicate with devices over a local wireless networkwithin the plant facility in which the industrial asset resides.

The one or more processors 218 can perform one or more of the functionsdescribed herein with reference to the systems and/or methods disclosed.Memory 220 can be a computer-readable storage medium storingcomputer-executable instructions and/or information for performing thefunctions described herein with reference to the systems and/or methodsdisclosed.

FIG. 3 is block diagram of an industrial asset 304 that includes anintegrated automated notification system. Industrial asset 304 cancomprise, for example, an industrial device such as an industrialcontroller, an HMI terminal, a motor drive, a vision system or otherquality verification system, a sensor, a telemetry device, or other suchdevice. Industrial asset 304 may also comprise an industrial machinecomprising multiple industrial devices and components (e.g., a machineor production line under the control of an industrial controller andassociated I/O devices). According to one or more embodiments, theindustrial asset 304 can store asset-specific information in a tagstorage area 302, which can comprise a computer-readable storage mediumof the industrial asset (e.g., flash storage or another type of datastorage medium).

The tag storage area 302 can store system identification information 306that uniquely identifies the industrial asset for the purpose ofgenerating automated notifications. The system identificationinformation 306 can comprise, for example, one or more of a user-definedname for the industrial asset 304, a vendor-defined device or asset typeidentifier (e.g., a vendor and model number of the industrial asset), orother relevant information. In some embodiments, system identificationinformation 306 can also comprise contextual information relating to alocation or function of the industrial asset 304. This contextualinformation may include, for example, a customer identifier thatidentifies the owner of the asset (e.g., the industrial enterprise,company, etc.), a production area or workcell in which the industrialasset resides, a role of the industrial asset within a particularindustrial enterprise (e.g., control of an identified machining tool,leak test verification of a die cast engine block, etc.), or other suchinformation.

The tag storage area 302 can also store an expert tag 308 thatidentifies one or more people or business entities qualified to provideassistance for the industrial asset 304. In addition to identifying therelevant experts, the expert tag 308 also classifies each expertaccording to the type of event or issue the expert is qualified toaddress. FIG. 4 illustrates an example set of information that can berecorded in the expert tag 308. In this example, the expert taginformation identifies multiple event categories 402, each identifying atype of event that, when detected by the event identification component206, will initiate delivery of one or more notifications to relevantexperts identified by the expert tag 308. Event categories defined inthe present example include operational faults, mechanical downtimefaults, software downtime faults, non-critical software faults, andscheduled maintenance events.

The expert tag information associates each event category 402 with oneor more experts 406 qualified to address the event type, as well ascontact information 408 used by the system to determine how thenotification should be delivered to the expert. In some embodiments, theexpert tag information also identifies the company or business entity404 with which the expert 406 is affiliated. Each item of contactinformation 408 can comprise any suitable type of information that canbe used by the system to identify a destination communication node forthe notification, including but not limited to a phone number (fordelivery of text-based notifications or pre-recorded voicenotifications), email addresses, a pager number, a web site or socialmedia page to which a notification can be posted, or other such contactinformation.

In some embodiments, the expert tag information may also allow prioritylevels to be assigned to respective event categories. In suchembodiments, the system may use the priority level information todetermine how and/or when one or more recipients are to be contacted inresponse to detection of an event. For example, if an event having a lowpriority level is detected at a time when a candidate recipient islisted as unavailable (e.g., non-working hours), the system may deferdelivery of the notification until the current time falls within theavailable time range for the recipient (e.g., when the working hours forthe recipient begin). Alternatively, if an event having a high priorityis detected, the system may send the notification immediately regardlessof the current time. In addition to controlling the time at whichnotifications are sent, the defined priority level may also determinehow the recipient is notified. For example, detection of a low priorityevent may cause the system to send a text message or an emailnotification to the recipient, while detection of a high priority eventmay cause the system to send both a text message and an automated phonecall.

In some embodiments, in order to more easily maintain accurateassociations between event categories and relevant experts capable ofproviding assistance for the respective event types, the expert taginformation can be organized into separate information tables, as shownin FIG. 5. In this example, a first table 502 defines associationsbetween event types and expert roles qualified to provide assistance foreach event type. For example, as defined in table 502, operationalfaults are to be handled by local maintenance personnel (that is,on-premise maintenance personnel directly employed by the plantfacility), while mechanical downtime faults are to be handled by one orboth of a systems integrator who installed the industrial asset onbehalf of the owner and/or an OEM who built the industrial asset for theowner. Software downtime faults are to be handled by a local engineer(an engineer directly employed by the plant facility) or a systemsintegrator. Non-critical software faults are to be handled by either alocal engineer or a systems integrator, and a scheduled maintenanceevent is to be handled by local maintenance personnel.

A second table 504 linked to table 502 associates each defined expertrole with one or more experts having that role. Example table 504defines three local maintenance experts associated with the local plantfacility, two local engineers, one OEM, and one systems integrator. Byseparating the expert tag information in this manner, new experts can beadded to a particular expert role using table 504, and those newly addedexperts will automatically be linked to the appropriate event categoriesfor notification purposes by virtue of table 502. It is to beappreciated that the separate information tables depicted in FIG. 5 areonly intended to be exemplary, and that the expert tag information canbe segregated into any number of tables according to any suitable datatable layout. For example, table 502 may also include a priority leveldata field that allows each even category to be associated with apriority level, which determines how and/or when notifications relatingto a given event are delivered, as described above.

It is to be appreciated that the example expert tag information formatdepicted in FIGS. 4 and 5 are only intended to be exemplary, and thatany suitable format for associating experts and their associated contactinformation with specified types of notification events is within thescope of one or more embodiments of this disclosure. Moreover, theexpert tag information may include other information not illustrated inFIGS. 4 and 5, and which may be leveraged by the system to determinewhich experts should be contacted and how those experts should benotified. For example, for a given event category, the tag informationmay identify multiple experts categorized according to respective timesof day or days of the week. This may be useful when different expertsare known to be available at different times of day or days of the week.In such embodiments, when an event is detected, the time and/or day atwhich the event was detected is noted by the system, and the one or moreexperts corresponding to both the event type and the time/day areselected for notifications. In some embodiments, the times at which thenotification are sent may also be a function of a priority or complexitylevel assigned to the event type in the expert tag information.

Returning now to FIG. 3, tag storage area 302 can also include a recordof maintenance notes 310 relating to the industrial asset 304. In one ormore embodiments, maintenance notes 310 comprises a record ofmaintenance or engineering interactions with the industrial asset 304,which may be useful to personnel performing diagnosis or maintenance onthe industrial asset during a downtime event or other operational issue.Maintenance notes 310 can include, for example, a record of amaintenance or engineering action performed on the industrial asset(e.g., replacement of an identified machine part or industrial device,reprogramming of a portion of an industrial control program, a scheduledservice operation, etc.), steps taken to solve previous operationalissues, estimated time to correct previous issues, identification ofdevice documentation that was referenced to solve a previous issue,version history information documenting a history of software orfirmware versions installed on the asset (e.g., times and dates thatpreviously installed firmware or software versions were installed), etc.At least a portion of these maintenance notes may be sent or madeavailable to a notified expert in connection with an event notification.

Information maintained in tag storage area 302—including the systemidentification information 306, expert tag 308, and maintenance notes310—can be updated manually based on input provided by the user via theinterface component 204, or dynamically by the industrial asset 304based on detected conditions, events, or changes of status. Updates tothe tag storage area 302 can be managed by a tag update component 210,which modifies selected sets of the tag information based on one or bothof user input or automatically detected status changes or events.

With regard to manual updating of tag information, the interfacecomponent 204 can be configured to provide access to selected subsets ofthe tag information maintained in tag storage area 302. In one or moreembodiments, interface component 204 can be configured to generate oneor more configuration interface displays that provide access to theselected items of tag information, and serve these displays to a clientdevice communicatively connected to the industrial asset over a wirelessor hard-wired connection. The configuration interfaces may include oneor more data entry fields corresponding to one or more items of tagdata, allowing the user to modify the corresponding tag information. Theconfiguration interfaces may also include interactive features thatguide the user through the process of associating a particular eventtype to one or more expert entities, as well as configuring anyadditional information or criteria required to link a particular eventor event type to a suitable expert (e.g., associating multiple differentexpert entities with a given event type, and defining a time periodand/or day of the week for each expert entity defining the respectiveexpected availabilities of each expert). The configuration interfacescan also allow the user to set the preferred contact information to beused to deliver notifications to the respective expert entities.

Since a given industrial asset may be associated with a particular setof event types that relate to that asset, the configuration optionspresented by the interface component 204 can be dependent on the type ofthe industrial asset 304. That is, the interface component 204 for agiven industrial asset may be configured to present a selectable list ofpossible event types associated with that particular asset. For example,the interface component for a telemetry device—such as a pressure,temperature, or flow meter—may present a list of events including overvalue fault, under value fault, and read failure fault, while theinterface component for a motor drive may present a list of eventsincluding overcurrent or undercurrent faults, overspeed or underspeedfaults, overvoltage or undervoltage faults, etc. In this way, the usercan easily review the event types for which expert information can beconfigured.

When the interface component 204 receives tag configuration informationfrom the user (e.g., via the configuration interfaces), the tag updatecomponent 210 will update the appropriate items of tag information inaccordance with the user's configuration input. The tag information canbe updated as needed to reflect changes in the pool of experts qualifiedto perform maintenance services on the industrial asset. For example,when new personnel become qualified to work on industrial asset 304,when a previous expert is no longer available to work on the asset, orwhen an expert's contact information changes, information contained inthe expert tag 308 can be updated to reflect the changes in order tomaintain an accurate and current list of qualified personnel.

The industrial asset 304 can also update selected items of the taginformation dynamically based on automatically detected device statusesor location changes. For example, location component 214 can beconfigured to determine a location of industrial asset 304, which can beused to update one or more items of the tag information. In one or moreembodiments, location component 214 can determine a geographic locationof the industrial asset 304 (e.g., in terms of geographic coordinates)using, for example, global positioning system (GPS) capabilities. Insome embodiments, the system can cross-reference this geographiclocation with enterprise-specific location information in order togenerate location information that may be more meaningful to theparticular industrial enterprise in which the asset is used. Forexample, facility location information defining geographical locationsof one or more plant facilities associated with an industrial enterprisemay be stored on the industrial asset. This facility locationinformation may comprise respective names of the industrial facilities(e.g., Marysville plant, southwest plant, etc.) as well as geographicalcoordinate information defining the locations of the respectivefacilities. Upon determining the current geographic location of theindustrial asset 304, the location component 214 can cross-referencethis asset location with the facility location information to determinewhether the asset's current location corresponds to a location of one ofthe defined industrial facilities. If so, the tag information is updatedto indicate that the asset 304 is currently located in the identifiedindustrial facility.

In some embodiments, this technique can be used to determine the asset'slocation within an industrial enterprise at a more granular level. Forexample, in addition to the plant facility, the location component 214can identify a particular work area—of a number of defined workareas—within the facility in which the asset 304 is currently located.In this way, the location component 214 can reference a hierarchicalgeographic model of an industrial enterprise that defines geographiclocations of one or more plant facilities, work areas within thosefacilities, machines within those work areas, etc., in order todetermine a location of the asset 304 within a custom-defined industrialcontext. The tag update component 210 can then set this locationinformation as part of the tag information stored in the tag storagearea 302. This location information can be leveraged by the notificationsystem to determine one or more suitable experts for a given issue basedin part on the location of the asset.

Other items of tag information can also be updated dynamically byinternal asset components. For example, the tag update component 210 canbe configured to automatically track software, firmware, or operatingsystem version history for the industrial asset 304. Thus, when amaintenance person or engineer updates the firmware or other software onindustrial asset 304, the tag update component 210 automatically updatesthe stored maintenance notes to record the date and time of theinstallation and the firmware/software version that was installed.

With the tag information configured and stored on the industrial asset,the customized expert definitions remain associated with the asset evenif the asset is relocated to a different work area or plant facility, orsold to a different industrial enterprise. In this way, the pool ofexpertise and experience travels with the industrial asset, maintaininga link between the asset and the qualified personnel who have beeninvolved with designing, installing, and/or maintaining the industrialasset in the past. Moreover, the structured nature of the taginformation—whereby each defined expert is associated with a type ofmaintenance event, a location, a time of day, a day of week,etc.—provides a means for the industrial asset to select the appropriateset of experts for a given event scenario.

When the industrial asset 304 is deployed within an industrialenvironment, the event identification component 206 monitors operationof the asset 304 to identify conditions for which expert assistance maybe warranted. For example, the event identification component 206 candetect when the industrial asset 304 has generated an alarm or fault,experienced a downtime condition, performed an out-of-sequenceoperation, or other such condition. If the industrial asset 304 is anindustrial controller that monitors and controls operation of anindustrial machine or process, the event detected by the eventidentification component 206 may relate to the controller's internaloperation (e.g., a controller fault) or to the machine or process beingcontrolled. In the latter scenario, the alarm or fault conditionsassociated with the controlled machine or process may be defined by theuser as part of the control program being executed on the industrialcontroller. For example, process parameter setpoint values, abnormalmachine statuses, process alarm conditions, and other such notifiableconditions may be defined by the user within the industrial controlprogram, and such conditions will be detected by the eventidentification component 206 and used as the basis for a notificationtrigger.

Other types of industrial assets, such as telemetry devices, motordrives, etc., may have a different set of associated notifiableconditions that will be monitored by the event identification component206. For example, the event identification component 206 for a motordrive (e.g., a variable frequency drive or other type of drive) maymonitor internal drive abnormals, including but not limited toovercurrent or undercurrent faults, overspeed or underspeed faults,overvoltage or undervoltage faults, etc.

In response to detection of an event falling under a notifiable category(as defined by the tag information in tag storage area 302), the eventidentification component 206 provides an indication of the event to thenotification component 208. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the datacollected by the notification component 208 in connection withgenerating a notification in response to receiving event informationfrom the event identification component 206. Upon detection of anotifiable event, the event identification component 206 provides eventinformation describing the event to the notification component 208. Theevent information may include, for example, an identification of thedetected event or a category of the event, a time at which the eventoccurred, or other relevant information. Based on the event informationprovided by the event identification component 206, the notificationcomponent 208 references or retrieves appropriate items of informationfrom the tag storage area in order to determine the subset of definedexperts or expert entities to be notified, the preferred contact methodfor the selected experts, and any additional information that is to besent to the experts as part of the notification.

For example, the notification component 208 may cross-reference theevent or event category with information in the expert tag 308 in orderto determine which experts or expert entities are defined as beingqualified to address the detected issue. With reference to the exampleexpert tag 308 illustrated in FIG. 4, if the event informationidentifies the detected issue as being a mechanical downtime fault, thenotification component 208 will select two of the define experts—asystems integrator and an OEM—to be notified of the event. The experttag 308 also provides the notification component 208 with contactinformation for the respective experts, which will be used to deliverthe notification data via the recipients' preferred means (e.g., email,text, automated voice message, social media posting, etc.).

In order to provide the recipients with sufficient information regardingthe source of the notification and the nature of the detected event,notification component 208 can retrieve device or machine identificationinformation from the system identification information 306. In somescenarios, the device or machine identification may comprise auser-defined name assigned to the industrial asset and recognizable bythe recipient. Alternatively or in addition, the identificationinformation can include a device model number or other vendor-definedidentifier for the device or machine, current software or firmwareversion information if applicable, current device configurationsettings, or other information that conveys to the recipients theidentity of the industrial asset and any relevant asset configurationinformation. Since a notification of the detected even may be deliveredto systems integrators or OEMs who are not direct employees of theindustrial enterprise to which the industrial asset belongs, the systemidentification information may also include a customer name identifyingthe industrial enterprise that owns the industrial asset so that outsidecontractors will be informed of the customer from whom the notificationwas received. Information about the device or machine may be encryptedby the notification component 208 to ensure secure transport of theinformation to the recipients, such that access and/or decryption of theinformation is made possible by a security key provided to therecipients as part of the initial notification.

In some embodiments, the notification component 208 may also retrieveone or more maintenance notes 310 from the tag storage area. In suchembodiments, the notification component 208 will select a subset of thestored maintenance notes determined to be relevant to the detectedissue. For example, if the detected event is a software fault, thenotification component 208 may retrieve the software versioninstallation history from maintenance notes 310 for delivery to theselected recipients. In another example, a detected mechanical downtimeissue may cause the notification component 208 to retrieve maintenancenotes that were entered by maintenance personnel in connection withprevious similar mechanical downtime events. Such maintenance notes may,for example, outline steps taken by maintenance personnel to address aprevious mechanical fault.

After gathering the selected subset of tag information in response tothe event notification, the notification component 208 sendsnotification data 602 to the communication component 216 for delivery tothe selected recipients. Notification data 602 includes informationidentifying the detected event, as well as the relevant tag informationcollected from the tag storage area. Upon delivery to the recipients'target devices, the notification data 602 will render information aboutthe event—e.g., the source of the event, the location and/or owner ofthe industrial asset, relevant device configuration and software versioninformation, maintenance history, etc.—in a format suitable for displayon the respective recipients' client devices. FIG. 7 is a diagramillustrating delivery of notifications to selected recipients accordingto one or more embodiments. In this example, a number of industrialdevices 704 (e.g., industrial controllers, motor drives, telemetrydevises, industrial robots, vision systems, etc.) are deployed within aplant environment, each having stored thereon tag information asdescribed above. Each industrial device 704 also includes an eventidentification component 206, a notification component 208, and acommunication component 216, as described above.

Communication component 216 communicatively couples the respectiveindustrial devices 704 to an external network 706, which may be a publicnetwork such as the Internet, a private or public cloud platform, orother external network. In one or more embodiments, communicationcomponent 216 may be configured to support single-directioncommunication, such that data can be sent from the industrial devices704 to the external network 706, but data cannot be written to theindustrial devices from the external network. Alternatively, someembodiments of communication component 216 may be configured to supportlimited or secured bi-directional communication that allows a user toremotely access data on the industrial device via the external network706. In such embodiments, notification information delivered to selectedrecipients may include security key data that permits access to anddecryption of information on the industrial device. In some scenarios,the industrial devices 704 may be configured to access the externalnetwork through a common firewall device located on a plant network.

When the notification component 208 of one of the industrial devices 704initiates sending a notification of a detected event (e.g., a machinedowntime condition, a device abnormal, a process parameter that hasfallen outside a defined range, etc.), the communication component 216sends the notification data 602 generated by the notification component208 to the external network 706 for delivery to the selected recipients.The communication component 216 leverages the contact information forthe respective recipients in order to instruct the communicationinfrastructure of the external network how to deliver the notificationsto the respective recipients. For example, for recipients whosepreferred contact method is email, the communication component 216 willsend the notification data as an email directed to the email addressdefined for the recipient in the tag storage area. Depending on thecommunication method specified for the respective recipients, thecommunication component 216 can also send the notification data as atext message to be directed to the user's mobile device via thecommunication platform of the external network 706, as a social mediaposting on the recipient's social media page, as an automatedtext-to-speech message to be directed to the user's mobile phone, or asanother suitably formatted notification message.

The notification information is then delivered to the one or moreselected recipients, who may reside outside the plant (e.g., recipient710 a) or within the plant (e.g., recipient 710 b). Upon delivery, thenotification information will render, on the respective client devices,information gathered by the notification component 208 from the tagstorage area determined to be relevant to the detected event, includingbut not limited to the type of the event; the plant facility, work area,and/or machine affected by the event; a time at which the eventoccurred; current configuration settings of the source device; currentversions of software or firmware installed on the source device;previously recorded maintenance notes relevant to the detected issue; alist of other people to whom notifications of the event were sent; etc.

In some embodiments, the notification component can also be configuredto include a security key in the delivered notifications that enablesthe recipients to remotely connect to the industrial device via theexternal network 706 for a temporary time and access additionalinformation available on the device that may assist in remotelydiagnosing the detected issue. For example, a notification received onthe recipient's client device may generate and render a control (e.g., asoft button or other activation means) that, when activated, initiates aprocess of connecting the client device to the industrial device via theexternal network. The security key included in the notification dataauthenticates the client device for remote access to the industrialdevice. Once connected, the recipient may remotely browse available dataitems (e.g., device statuses, previously stored maintenance notes, etc.)store on the industrial device. Browsing of the stored information maybe performed in connection with encryption features implemented on theindustrial device that ensures the information remains secure from usersother than the recipient.

Although the configuration illustrated in FIG. 7 depicts the industrialdevices 704 as sending the notifications via an external network (e.g.,the Internet or a cloud platform) that resides outside the plantenvironment, in some embodiments, the industrial devices 704 may beconfigured to send notifications exclusively over an internal networksuch as a hard-wired or wireless plant network. In such configurations,notifications may be limited to personnel within the plant, sincenotifications will only be delivered to client devices accessible viathe internal plant network.

As noted above, the tag and notification features described above can beapplied at the machine level as well as at the device level.Machine-level notifications can be useful when an industrial enterprisehas taken possession of a custom machine designed, built, and installedby outside contractors such as OEMs or system integrators. FIG. 8 is adiagram of an example control cabinet for a custom-build industrialmachine, in which an industrial controller (e.g., a PLC or other type ofindustrial controller) manages notifications for the machine as a whole.In this example, industrial controller 810 is mounted in a controlcabinet 802 as part of a control system 812 to be installed at a plantfacility. The control system 812 is housed in control cabinet 802, whichmay have been designed and built by an OEM, a systems integrator, orother machine builder to fulfill a customer order.

Control system 812 may comprise a number of I/O devices 806 (e.g., motordrives, sensors or other telemetry devices, solenoid valves, remote I/Omodules, etc.) interfaced with the industrial controller 810. The I/Odevices 806 may be hardwired to the industrial controller's I/O modules,or may exchange data with the industrial controller 810 over a localnetwork (e.g., EthernetIP, common industrial protocol, etc.). Inaddition, one or more of the I/O devices 806 may have a number ofsub-devices 808 connected thereto. For example, if an I/O device is aremote I/O module, sub-devices 808 may comprise the I/O devicesconnected to that remote I/O module. The control cabinet 802 may alsoinclude an HMI terminal 804 for visualizing the machine or process beingcontrolled by the control system 812. The HMI terminal 804 iscommunicatively connected to the industrial controller 810 over a localnetwork connection or an interface cable.

In this example, the notification functionality of the industrialcontroller 810 manages notifications for the machine as whole.Accordingly, industrial controller 810 maintains notification taginformation 814 for the machine. The notification tag information 814may define, as the pool of experts, the engineers and machine buildersassociated with the OEM that provided the machine, the engineers ortechnicians associated with a systems integrator that installed themachine at the customer site (if installation and integration was nothandled by the OEM), technical support personnel associated with avendor of the industrial controller 810 and/or the I/O devices 806 andsub-devices 808, as well as any local support personnel associated withthe customer facility who may have been assigned responsibility foroperating or maintaining the machine (e.g., machine operators, shiftsupervisors, on-site maintenance personnel or engineers, etc.). Sincethe industrial control program executing on the industrial controller810 typically defines the machine fault conditions as a function of thestates of the I/O devices and sub-devices (e.g., proximity and/oroptical sensors, meters that monitor machine parameters, etc.), theevent identification component 206 residing on the industrial controller810 can detect fault conditions for the industrial machine based onstates of data registers of the controller's data table corresponding todefined fault conditions.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the control cabinet 802 deployed withina plant environment and connected to a plant network 902. When a faultcondition for the machine has been detected by the event identificationcomponent 206 residing on the industrial controller 810, thecontroller's communication component sends notification data directed toselected expert recipients, as described in previous examples. In thisexample, the plant network 902 is connected to external network 908(e.g., the Internet or a cloud platform) via a firewall device 904 thatresides within the plant and serves as a secure gateway between thelocal plant network 902 and the external network 908. The communicationcomponent of the industrial controller is configured to package thenotification data to yield one or more data packets capable of beingconveyed to the external network 908 via the firewall device.Accordingly, the communication component can be configured withnecessary security settings in order to allow the industrial controllerto communicate to outside networks via the firewall device.

Examples described above have depicted the notification tag informationand notification component as residing on the industrial device or assetfor which notifications are to be generated. In some alternativeembodiments, the tag information and notification component may resideon an external network, such as a cloud platform. FIG. 10 is a diagramillustrating an example embodiment in which the notification taginformation and notification component are maintained on a cloudplatform as part of a cloud-based notification system 1006. In thisexample, one or more controlled processes 1004 are monitored and/orcontrolled by one or more industrial assets, which comprise one or moreindustrial devices 1002 (e.g., industrial controllers, sensors, meters,motor drives, or other such devices). Similar to previously describedexamples, industrial devices 1002 include an event identificationcomponent that detects occurrence of a defined condition requiringattention of expert personnel, as well as communication components thatcommunicatively link the devices to an external network. In the presentexample, the external network is a cloud platform on which a cloud-basednotification system 1006 executes as a cloud service.

The communication components of industrial devices 1002 can beconfigured to discover and interact with cloud-based computing services(including the cloud-based notification system) 1006 hosted by the cloudplatform. The cloud platform can be any infrastructure that allowsshared computing services to be accessed and utilized by cloud-capabledevices. The cloud platform can be a public cloud accessible via theInternet by devices having Internet connectivity and appropriateauthorizations to utilize the services. In some scenarios, the cloudplatform can be provided by a cloud provider as a platform-as-a-service(PaaS). In some such configurations, access to the cloud platform andthe notification system can be provided to customers as a subscriptionservice by an owner of the notification system. Alternatively, the cloudplatform can be a private cloud operated internally by the industrialenterprise. An example private cloud platform can comprise a set ofservers hosting the notification service and residing on a corporatenetwork protected by a firewall.

Hosting the notification system 1006 on a cloud platform allows a commonnotification system to service multiple industrial assets, includingassets belonging to multiple different end customers or industrialenterprises. Since the notification system 1006 provides notificationservices to multiple customers, the expert tag information for multipledifferent industrial assets is stored on the cloud platform andsegregated according to customer. For example, the expert tag andmaintenance note information for respective different industrial assetscan be segregated according to customer and stored as customer profiles1012. Each customer profile can have an associated customer identifierthat uniquely identifies the customer or industrial entity to whom thenotification tag information belongs. In addition, each customer profilemay also include other customer-level information, including but notlimited to primary contact information for the customer, generalnotification preferences to be applied to all notifications for thatcustomer, preferred support personnel, any service contract informationbetween the customer and a support provider (e.g., OEM, systemsintegrator, vendor, etc.) that dictates how and when notifications aresent, or other such customer-specific information.

When the event identification component of an industrial device 1002detects a notifiable event, the notification component of that devicesends notification information 1014 to a cloud interface 1010 of thenotification system 1006, which manages communication between theindustrial assets and the cloud services. The notification information1014 generated by the industrial device can include, for example,information identifying the event, the device or machine from which theevent originated, and a customer identifier that identifies the customeror industrial enterprise that owns the industrial asset. Since theexpert tag information is stored as part of a customer profile on thecloud platform, rather than on the industrial asset itself, thenotification information 1014 sent to the cloud platform does not needto include recipient information and contact information. Instead,selection of one or more suitable experts to be notified of the eventwill be performed on the cloud platform by the cloud-based notificationsystem 1006 in this configuration.

Upon receipt of the notification information 1014, the notificationcomponent 1008 will identify the customer profile corresponding to thecustomer identifier received in the notification information 1014, andcross-reference the reported event with the expert tag informationstored in association with the selected customer profile in order todetermine the set of qualified personnel to be notified of the event, ina manner similar to examples described above. The notification component1008 can also retrieve any relevant maintenance notes stored in thecustomer profile determined to be relevant to the detected event andinclude these maintenance notes in the notification. The cloud-basednotification system can then initiate delivery of a notification 1016 tothe one or more identified experts in accordance with the specifiedcontact preferences for each expert.

Storing the expert tag information on a centralized system as depictedin FIG. 10 allows the notification preferences for multiple differentcustomers to be managed collectively by a single administrative entity.Moreover, since cloud-based storage is less limited than storage on thedevice level, this cloud-based architecture can be used to storeadditional information that affords a greater degree of control withregard to how and when notifications are sent. The cloud-basedarchitecture can also at least partially automate some administrativeaspects of technical support provision. For example, some embodiments ofcloud-based notification system 1006 may be configured to enforceservice agreements between customers and support providers. In suchembodiments, a service agreement between an owner of the industrialassets and a support provider (e.g., device vendor, OEM, systemsintegrator, etc.) may define a limit on the number of support responsesthat can be provided to the customer by the support provider within theterm of the service agreement (e.g., one year), or a time period duringwhich contact can be made. Accordingly, the cloud-based notificationsystem 1006 can track the number of notifications that have been sent tothe support provider within the term of the service contract. If animpending notification will cause the customer to exceed their allotmentof service requests, the notification system may send a preliminarynotification to a specified representative of the customer to confirmthat the notification should be sent, informing the customer that thesupport provider may charge an additional fee if the notification issent. The customer's representative can then respond to thisnotification (e.g., by selecting a link or graphical control include inthe preliminary message) instructing the notification system to eitherdiscard the impending notification or to proceed with sending thenotification to the support entity. Since the cloud-based notificationsystem 1006 can track the number of automated notifications sent tovarious support entities for each customer, this collected data can alsobe used for billing purposes if the customer's service contract chargesfor each service request.

In another example, some embodiments of the cloud-based notificationsystem 1006 can be configured to generate automated work orders if thedetected event is determined to require an on-site visit to thecustomer's plant facility by an outside contractor. In such embodiments,the expert tag information may categorize different event typesaccording to whether a site visit by a support provider is expected tobe necessary in order to resolve the detected issue. The cloud-basedsystem may also include billing information for customers participatingin the service agreement. When an industrial asset reports an issuecategorized as requiring a site visit, the notification system can, inaddition to sending a notification to the support provider, generate anelectronic work order using the customer's billing information, and makethe work order accessible to the support provider. In this way, thesystem can mitigate the need for the customer to generate a work orderprior to the support provider's visit.

Similarly, some embodiments of the cloud-based notification system 1006can allow the event types to be categorized according to whether areplacement device or component will be necessary (e.g., a failed meteror I/O module, etc.). When an industrial asset reports an issue that isdefined as requiring a replacement part, the notification system 1006can, in addition to sending notifications to the relevant personnel,generate a purchase order for the device or component to be replaced.

As noted above, some embodiments of the notification system candetermine one or more suitable recipients for a notification based onthe recipients' locations in addition to the other criteria defined bythe expert tags. FIGS. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustratinglocation-based notification. In this example, in addition to receivingand conveying notification information, the cloud-based notificationsystem is designed to track location information 1110 for one or morepotential notification recipients. This location information 1110 can bereceived, for example, from a personal device carried by the recipient(e.g., a mobile phone) and communicatively connected to the cloudplatform, where the location information 1110 is generated based on GPScapabilities of the user's personal device. In some embodiments, thelocation information 1110 can be collected from the user's personalmobile device by the cloud-based notification system on a continuous orsemi-continuous basis, so that the potential recipients are trackedcontinuously. Alternatively, the system may audit or query therecipients' locations only when notification information 1108 isreceived from an industrial asset 1102 in order to assess whichpotential recipients satisfy a defined location requirement relative tothe location of the industrial asset 1102. The location information 1110may comprise, for example, a data packet containing an identity of therecipient (which can correlate with one of the expert identities definedin the expert tag information in one or more customer profiles 1012), aswell as the geographical location of the recipient. In some embodiments,the data packet can be generated by an application installed on theuser's mobile device and designed to work in conjunction with thecloud-based notification system.

In this embodiment, when notification data is received by thecloud-based notification system in response to a detected issue (e.g., adowntime event of a machine), the notification component 1008 determinesa set of candidate experts to be notified of the event based on theexpert tag data stored in the customer profiles 1012, as in the examplesdescribed above. Additionally, the notification component 1008 candetermine which of the candidate experts satisfy a location requirementrelative to the location of the asset 1102 affected by the detectedissue. For example, the customer profile corresponding to the owner ofasset 1102 may define that, if multiple candidate recipients are locatedwithin the plant facility in which the asset 1102 resides, only thoserecipients within a defined distance from the asset are to be notified.This condition can be determined, for example, by comparing the currentlocations of the recipients with the recorded location of the asset 1102(e.g., as determined by the asset's location component 214). In thisway, the system only notifies local experts who are nearest to the assetand thus able to respond more quickly to the issue. In some embodiments,this location criterion may be applied only to candidate recipients whoare within the plant facility, while other support personnel outside theplant facility (e.g., OEMs, device vendors, systems integrators, etc.)who are also listed as suitable experts to be notified of the issue willbe sent notifications regardless of their relative location to theasset.

As shown in FIG. 11B, once the notification component 1008 hasidentified a candidate expert 1104 who is tagged as being qualified toaddress the detected issue and who satisfies the location criterion, thenotification component 1008 delivers a notification 1112 to thecandidate expert 1104 using the contact information defined for theexpert.

In addition to the notifications described above, one or moreembodiments of the cloud-based notification system can also beconfigured to deliver live video streams of a device or machine to auser's personal device to facilitate remote visual diagnosis. FIG. 12 isa diagram illustrating an example embodiment of a notification systemthat incorporates video presentations. In this example, a number ofvideo capture devices 1214 (e.g., digital video cameras or other typesof video capture devices) are installed at various locations throughoutthe plant facility to capture video of respective work areas 1216. Thevideo capture devices 1214 are installed on a network having access tothe hardware or cloud-based platform on which the notification system isimplemented. Each video capture device 1214 pushes video data 1212 tothe search system as individual video streams. A video processingcomponent 1202 associated with the cloud-based notification system canprocess and store each video stream on video storage 1204, such that thevideo data from each camera is tagged with identification informationindicating the plant facility and work area recorded by the video data.

In this example, the notification component 1008 delivers a notificationto a client device 1218 associated with a suitable expert in response todetection of an issue within one of the work areas 1216. Also, either inresponse to detection of the issue or in response to a subsequentrequest received from the user's client device 1218, the notificationcomponent 1008 can select a dashboard from a set of stored dashboards1220 for visualization of data relating to the affected area. Thenotification component 1008 is configured to add a video presentation tothe dashboard, which is delivered using a secure connection. Forexample, the dashboard 1210 provided to the user may include interactivecontrols that allow the user to add live or historical video data 1208as an overlay on the dashboard if such video information is availablefor the work area represented by the dashboard. In response tointeraction with these controls, the dashboard component can overlay thevideo data over a selected portion of the dashboard.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example dashboard 1304 that includes a videowindow 1302 for streaming video information for a selected work area. Inthis example, the dashboard includes a graphical representation of WorkArea 6, which may include a control indicating that video is availablefor that area. Selection of this control causes the notificationcomponent 1008 to overlay video window 1302 on or near the Work Area 6graphic. If the user selects a live video stream the notificationcomponent 1008 will begin streaming the most recent video informationfor Work Area 6 from video storage 1204 to the client device. In someembodiments, the user may also invoke a historical data stream byentering a day and time of interest via the dashboard 1304. In response,the notification component 1008 will retrieve the video datacorresponding to the entered day and time, and stream this videoinformation to the client device. Using this configuration, the user caninvoke live or historical visual information for areas of interest viathe search system. For example, if the dashboard indicates that an alarmcondition is active for a particular machine, the user may invoke liveor historical video in order to visually inspect the machine remotelyvia a mobile device.

Also, some embodiments of the cloud-based notification system canfacilitate video conferencing between experts who have been notified ofa detected event. FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrate video conferencingbetween a remote expert and a local plant employee using the cloud-basednotification system. In this example, an industrial device 1404 hasdetected a notifiable event (e.g., a machine downtime occurrence, aprocess parameter that has fallen outside a defined range, etc.) andsent notification information 1410 to the cloud-based notificationsystem indicating one or more of the nature of the detected event, theeffected device or machine, a customer identifier, or other relevantinformation, as described above in connection with FIG. 7. Two experts—alocal expert 1408 a located within the plant facility and a remoteexpert 1408 b located at a remote support facility—have been selected toreceive notifications of the event by the notification component 1008.As shown in FIG. 14B, the notification system also serves as videoconferencing platform that allows the experts 1408 a and 1408 b totransmit video data from their respective client devices (e.g., videodata collected using cameras integrated with the client devices) to theother client device via the cloud-based notification platform. In someembodiments, when an expert receives a notification of the detectedevent, the received notification can render an interactive dashboard onthe expert's client device that displays information about the detectedevent, as well as a list of other experts who have been notified of theevent. To initiate video conferencing with another user, the recipientmay select one of the listed experts to initiate video conferencing withthat expert. Selection of the expert from the list can cause aconferencing request to be sent to the selected user's client device viathe notification system. If the selected user accepts the request, thenotification system can establish a video conference between the twoclient devices. This configuration provides a platform forgeographically remote users to discuss the detected issue, allowing theremote support person to verbally guide the local user through theprocess of addressing the issue while providing the local user with theability to send live video of the issue back to the remote supportperson.

FIGS. 15-16 illustrate various methodologies in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the subject application. While, for purposes ofsimplicity of explanation, the one or more methodologies shown hereinare shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood andappreciated that the subject innovation is not limited by the order ofacts, as some acts may, in accordance therewith, occur in a differentorder and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and describedherein. For example, those skilled in the art will understand andappreciate that a methodology could alternatively be represented as aseries of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram.Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement amethodology in accordance with the innovation. Furthermore, interactiondiagram(s) may represent methodologies, or methods, in accordance withthe subject disclosure when disparate entities enact disparate portionsof the methodologies. Further yet, two or more of the disclosed examplemethods can be implemented in combination with each other, to accomplishone or more features or advantages described herein.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example methodology 1500 for generating anddelivering automated notifications of industrial events by an industrialdevice. Initially, at 1502, a status of an industrial device isdetected, the status being indicative of an event for which one or morepeople are to be notified. The event may comprise, for example, amachine downtime occurrence, a device or machine fault, a process oroperating parameter that has fallen outside a defined acceptable range,or other such event. The event can be detected by the industrial deviceitself (e.g., by the event identification component 206) based on anexamination of one or more data registers on the device that indicaterelevant device statuses and parameter values.

At 1504, electronic tag information stored on the industrial device isreferenced to determine a set of recipients who satisfy one or morecriteria relative to the event detected at step 1502. For example, theelectronic tag information can define, for respective different eventsor event types, one or more experts qualified to address the event orevent type. The electronic tag information can also define contactinformation for each expert, times that the respective experts areavailable, and other such information. A notification component of theindustrial device can reference this tag information in order todetermine which experts correspond to the event or event type, and arecurrently available to receive notifications.

At 1506, contextual information relevant to the detected event iscollected by the industrial device. This contextual information caninclude, for example, a time at which the event occurred, configurationsettings of the industrial device at the time the event occurred, acurrent software or firmware version installed in the industrial device,maintenance history information stored on the industrial device, orother such contextual information. At 1508, notification information isgenerated and sent to the set of recipients selected at step 1504, thenotification information containing an identification of the event aswell as the contextual information collected at step 1506. Acommunication component of the industrial device can send thenotification information to the recipients via one or more wired orwireless networks, including but not limited to a plant network to whichthe device is connected, an external network such as the Internet or acloud platform, a mobile telephone service platform, or other suchnetworks.

At 1510, secure connection information is generated that enables the setof recipients to remotely connect to either the industrial device or aseparate notification system in order to access or collect additionalinformation about the event, the industrial device, and/or the owner ofthe industrial device. This may include, for example, generatingauthentication information that permits the set of recipients to accessand/or decrypt the additional information.

FIG. 16 illustrates an example methodology for generating and deliveringautomated notifications of industrial events by a cloud-basednotification system. Initially, at 1602, a notification request from anindustrial device is received at a cloud-based notification system, thenotification request identifying an industrial event for which one ormore people are to be notified. The cloud-based notification system mayexecute on a cloud platform as a cloud-based service, and thenotification request may be received from an industrial device that iscommunicatively linked to the cloud platform.

At 1604, a customer profile corresponding to the source of the detectedevent is selected by the cloud-based notification system. For example,the notification request may include a customer identifier thatidentifies a customer (e.g., an industrial enterprise or owner of anindustrial asset) with whom the industrial device is associated. Thecloud-based notification system may maintain on cloud storage a set ofcustomer-specific profiles, each having associated expert taginformation that correlates events and/or event types with respectiveexperts who are to be notified in response to detection of the definedevents or event types. When a notification request is received, thecloud-based notification system selects the customer profilecorresponding to the customer identifier included in the request.

At 1606, electronic tag information associated with the customer profileselected at 1604 is referenced to determine a set of recipients whosatisfy one or more criteria relative to the detected event (e.g., in amanner similar to step 1504 of methodology 1500). In some embodiments,in addition to the electronic tag information, the cloud-basednotification system may consider other factors when selected a suitableset of recipients, including but not limited to the locations of therecipients relative to a source of the detected event. At 1608,notification information is generated and sent to the set of recipientsby the cloud-based notification system, the notification informationcontaining an identification of the event and contextual informationrelating to the event.

Embodiments, systems, and components described herein, as well asindustrial control systems and industrial automation environments inwhich various aspects set forth in the subject specification can becarried out, can include computer or network components such as servers,clients, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), automation controllers,communications modules, mobile computers, wireless components, controlcomponents and so forth which are capable of interacting across anetwork. Computers and servers include one or more processors—electronicintegrated circuits that perform logic operations employing electricsignals—configured to execute instructions stored in media such asrandom access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), a hard drives, aswell as removable memory devices, which can include memory sticks,memory cards, flash drives, external hard drives, and so on.

Similarly, the term PLC or automation controller as used herein caninclude functionality that can be shared across multiple components,systems, and/or networks. As an example, one or more PLCs or automationcontrollers can communicate and cooperate with various network devicesacross the network. This can include substantially any type of control,communications module, computer, Input/Output (I/O) device, sensor,actuator, instrumentation, and human machine interface (HMI) thatcommunicate via the network, which includes control, automation, and/orpublic networks. The PLC or automation controller can also communicateto and control various other devices such as standard or safety-ratedI/O modules including analog, digital, programmed/intelligent I/Omodules, other programmable controllers, communications modules,sensors, actuators, output devices, and the like.

The network can include public networks such as the internet, intranets,and automation networks such as control and information protocol (CIP)networks including DeviceNet, ControlNet, and Ethernet/IP. Othernetworks include Ethernet, DH/DH+, Remote I/O, Fieldbus, Modbus,Profibus, CAN, wireless networks, serial protocols, near fieldcommunication (NFC), Bluetooth, and so forth. In addition, the networkdevices can include various possibilities (hardware and/or softwarecomponents). These include components such as switches with virtuallocal area network (VLAN) capability, LANs, WANs, proxies, gateways,routers, firewalls, virtual private network (VPN) devices, servers,clients, computers, configuration tools, monitoring tools, and/or otherdevices.

In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosedsubject matter, FIGS. 17 and 18 as well as the following discussion areintended to provide a brief, general description of a suitableenvironment in which the various aspects of the disclosed subject mattermay be implemented.

With reference to FIG. 17, an example environment 1710 for implementingvarious aspects of the aforementioned subject matter includes a computer1712. The computer 1712 includes a processing unit 1714, a system memory1716, and a system bus 1718. The system bus 1718 couples systemcomponents including, but not limited to, the system memory 1716 to theprocessing unit 1714. The processing unit 1714 can be any of variousavailable processors. Multi-core microprocessors and othermultiprocessor architectures also can be employed as the processing unit1714.

The system bus 1718 can be any of several types of bus structure(s)including the memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus orexternal bus, and/or a local bus using any variety of available busarchitectures including, but not limited to, 8-bit bus, IndustrialStandard Architecture (ISA), Micro-Channel Architecture (MSA), ExtendedISA (EISA), Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE), VESA Local Bus (VLB),Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Universal Serial Bus (USB),Advanced Graphics Port (AGP), Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association bus (PCMCIA), and Small Computer SystemsInterface (SCSI).

The system memory 1716 includes volatile memory 1720 and nonvolatilememory 1722. The basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basicroutines to transfer information between elements within the computer1712, such as during start-up, is stored in nonvolatile memory 1722. Byway of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory 1722 caninclude read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electricallyprogrammable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), or flashmemory. Volatile memory 1720 includes random access memory (RAM), whichacts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and notlimitation, RAM is available in many forms such as synchronous RAM(SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rateSDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), anddirect Rambus RAM (DRRAM).

Computer 1712 also includes removable/non-removable,volatile/non-volatile computer storage media. FIG. 17 illustrates, forexample a disk storage 1724. Disk storage 1724 includes, but is notlimited to, devices like a magnetic disk drive, floppy disk drive, tapedrive, Jaz drive, Zip drive, LS-100 drive, flash memory card, or memorystick. In addition, disk storage 1724 can include storage mediaseparately or in combination with other storage media including, but notlimited to, an optical disk drive such as a compact disk ROM device(CD-ROM), CD recordable drive (CD-R Drive), CD rewritable drive (CD-RWDrive) or a digital versatile disk ROM drive (DVD-ROM). To facilitateconnection of the disk storage 1724 to the system bus 1718, a removableor non-removable interface is typically used such as interface 1726.

It is to be appreciated that FIG. 17 describes software that acts as anintermediary between users and the basic computer resources described insuitable operating environment 1710. Such software includes an operatingsystem 1728. Operating system 1728, which can be stored on disk storage1724, acts to control and allocate resources of the computer 1712.System applications 1730 take advantage of the management of resourcesby operating system 1728 through program modules 1732 and program data1734 stored either in system memory 1716 or on disk storage 1724. It isto be appreciated that one or more embodiments of the subject disclosurecan be implemented with various operating systems or combinations ofoperating systems.

A user enters commands or information into the computer 1712 throughinput device(s) 1736. Input devices 1736 include, but are not limitedto, a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad,keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TVtuner card, digital camera, digital video camera, web camera, and thelike. These and other input devices connect to the processing unit 1714through the system bus 1718 via interface port(s) 1738. Interfaceport(s) 1738 include, for example, a serial port, a parallel port, agame port, and a universal serial bus (USB). Output device(s) 1740 usesome of the same type of ports as input device(s) 1736. Thus, forexample, a USB port may be used to provide input to computer 1712, andto output information from computer 1712 to an output device 1740.Output adapters 1742 are provided to illustrate that there are someoutput devices 1740 like monitors, speakers, and printers, among otheroutput devices 1740, which require special adapters. The output adapters1742 include, by way of illustration and not limitation, video and soundcards that provide a means of connection between the output device 1740and the system bus 1718. It should be noted that other devices and/orsystems of devices provide both input and output capabilities such asremote computer(s) 1744.

Computer 1712 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s)1744. The remote computer(s) 1744 can be a personal computer, a server,a router, a network PC, a workstation, a microprocessor based appliance,a peer device or other common network node and the like, and typicallyincludes many or all of the elements described relative to computer1712. For purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device 1746 isillustrated with remote computer(s) 1744. Remote computer(s) 1744 islogically connected to computer 1712 through a network interface 1748and then physically connected via communication connection 1750. Networkinterface 1748 encompasses communication networks such as local-areanetworks (LAN) and wide-area networks (WAN). LAN technologies includeFiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Copper Distributed DataInterface (CDDI), Ethernet/IEEE 802.3, Token Ring/IEEE 802.5 and thelike. WAN technologies include, but are not limited to, point-to-pointlinks, circuit switching networks like Integrated Services DigitalNetworks (ISDN) and variations thereon, packet switching networks, andDigital Subscriber Lines (DSL). Network interface 1748 can alsoencompass near field communication (NFC) or Bluetooth communication.

Communication connection(s) 1750 refers to the hardware/softwareemployed to connect the network interface 1748 to the system bus 1718.While communication connection 1750 is shown for illustrative clarityinside computer 1712, it can also be external to computer 1712. Thehardware/software necessary for connection to the network interface 1748includes, for exemplary purposes only, internal and externaltechnologies such as, modems including regular telephone grade modems,cable modems and DSL modems, ISDN adapters, and Ethernet cards.

FIG. 18 is a schematic block diagram of a sample computing environment1800 with which the disclosed subject matter can interact. The samplecomputing environment 1800 includes one or more client(s) 1802. Theclient(s) 1802 can be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads,processes, computing devices). The sample computing environment 1800also includes one or more server(s) 1804. The server(s) 1804 can also behardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices).The servers 1804 can house threads to perform transformations byemploying one or more embodiments as described herein, for example. Onepossible communication between a client 1802 and servers 1804 can be inthe form of a data packet adapted to be transmitted between two or morecomputer processes. The sample computing environment 1800 includes acommunication framework 1806 that can be employed to facilitatecommunications between the client(s) 1802 and the server(s) 1804. Theclient(s) 1802 are operably connected to one or more client datastore(s) 1808 that can be employed to store information local to theclient(s) 1802. Similarly, the server(s) 1804 are operably connected toone or more server data store(s) 1810 that can be employed to storeinformation local to the servers 1804.

What has been described above includes examples of the subjectinnovation. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivablecombination of components or methodologies for purposes of describingthe disclosed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art mayrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of the subjectinnovation are possible. Accordingly, the disclosed subject matter isintended to embrace all such alterations, modifications, and variationsthat fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

In particular and in regard to the various functions performed by theabove described components, devices, circuits, systems and the like, theterms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe suchcomponents are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, toany component which performs the specified function of the describedcomponent (e.g., a functional equivalent), even though not structurallyequivalent to the disclosed structure, which performs the function inthe herein illustrated exemplary aspects of the disclosed subjectmatter. In this regard, it will also be recognized that the disclosedsubject matter includes a system as well as a computer-readable mediumhaving computer-executable instructions for performing the acts and/orevents of the various methods of the disclosed subject matter.

In addition, while a particular feature of the disclosed subject mattermay have been disclosed with respect to only one of severalimplementations, such feature may be combined with one or more otherfeatures of the other implementations as may be desired and advantageousfor any given or particular application. Furthermore, to the extent thatthe terms “includes,” and “including” and variants thereof are used ineither the detailed description or the claims, these terms are intendedto be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.”

In this application, the word “exemplary” is used to mean serving as anexample, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design describedherein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use of the wordexemplary is intended to present concepts in a concrete fashion.

Various aspects or features described herein may be implemented as amethod, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programmingand/or engineering techniques. The term “article of manufacture” as usedherein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device, carrier, or media. For example, computerreadable media can include but are not limited to magnetic storagedevices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips . . . ), opticaldisks [e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD) . . . ],smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, key drive . .. ).

What is claimed is:
 1. An industrial device, comprising: a memory thatstores executable components; a processor, operatively coupled to thememory, that executes the executable components, the executablecomponents comprising: an event identification component configured todetect a condition of the industrial device for which a notification isto be generated; a notification component configured to determine atleast one recipient for the notification based on expert tag informationstored on the memory, and to generate notification information based onthe condition; and a communication component configured to initiate asending of the notification information to a client device associatedwith the at least one recipient via an external network.
 2. Theindustrial device of claim 1, wherein the expert tag information definesone or more event types and one or more recipients, including the atleast one recipient, respectively corresponding to the one or more eventtypes, and wherein the notification component selects the at least onerecipient based on which of the one or more event types corresponds tothe condition.
 3. The industrial device of claim 1, wherein thecondition comprises at least one of a machine downtime condition, adevice fault, a mechanical fault, a software fault, a condition in whicha process parameter has fallen outside a defined range, an operationalinefficiency, an alarm condition, or a scheduled maintenance event. 4.The industrial device of claim 2, wherein the expert tag informationdefines contact information for respective recipients of the one or morerecipients, and the communication component is configured to format thenotification information for delivery in accordance with the contactinformation defined for the at least one recipient.
 5. The industrialdevice of claim 1, wherein the notification component is furtherconfigured to control sending of the notification information to theclient device based at least in part on a current location of at leastone of the client device or the at least one recipient.
 6. Theindustrial device of claim 2, further comprising a tag update componentconfigured to update the expert tag information based on at least one ofmanual input received via an interface component of the industrialdevice or an automatically detected status of the industrial device. 7.The industrial device of claim 1, wherein the tag update component isfurther configured to determine a geographical location of theindustrial device, and the communication component is further configuredto include location information identifying the geographical location inthe notification information.
 8. The industrial device of claim 1,wherein the notification component is further configured to retrieve,from the memory, one or more maintenance notes determined to be relevantto the condition of the industrial device, and the communicationcomponent is further configured to include the one or more maintenancenotes in the notification information.
 9. The industrial device of claim1, wherein the industrial device comprises at least one of an industrialcontroller, a motor drive, a meter, a telemetry device, a sensor, anindustrial robot, or a vision system.
 10. A method for generatingautomated notifications, comprising: detecting, by a system comprisingat least one processor, occurrence of an event associated with anindustrial device; determining, by the system, at least one recipient tobe notified of the event based on expert tag information stored on theindustrial device; generating, by the system, notification informationbased on the event; and initiating, by the system, a sending of thenotification information to a client device associated with the at leastone recipient via an external network.
 11. The method of claim 10,wherein the determining comprises determining an event type to which theevent belongs and identifying the at least one expert as beingassociated with the event type based on the expert tag information. 12.The method of claim 10, wherein the detecting comprises detecting atleast one of a machine downtime event, a device fault, a mechanicalfault, a software fault, a condition in which a process parameter hasfallen outside a defined range, an operational inefficiency, an alarmcondition, or a scheduled maintenance event.
 13. The method of claim 11,wherein the sending comprises sending the notification information inaccordance with contact information defined for the at least onerecipient by the expert tag information.
 14. The method of claim 10,wherein the determining comprises determining the at least one recipientbased in part on a current location of at least one of the client deviceor the at least one recipient.
 15. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising updating, by the system, the expert tag information based onat least one of manual input or an automatically detected status of theindustrial device.
 16. The method of claim 10, wherein the generatingcomprises generating the notification information to include securitycredential information that enables remote access to the industrialdevice by the client device.
 17. The method of claim 15, furthercomprising: determining a geographical location of the industrialdevice; and generating the notification information to include locationinformation identifying the geographical location.
 18. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the generating comprises: retrieving one or moremaintenance notes stored on the industrial device determined to berelevant to the event; and generating the notification information toinclude the maintenance notes.
 19. A non-transitory computer-readablemedium having stored thereon instructions that, in response toexecution, cause a system comprising a processor to perform operations,the operations comprising: determining that an event associated with anindustrial device has occurred for which a notification is to begenerated; referencing expert tag information stored on the industrialdevice based on an identification of the event; selecting one or morerecipients for the notification based on the referencing; generating thenotification based on the event and device information included in theexpert tag information; and initiating a sending of the notification toone or more client devices respectively associated with the one or morerecipients.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18,wherein the selecting comprises determining that the one or morerecipients are defined by the expert tag information as being associatedwith an event type to which the event belongs.